Gate for coke wharves



Sept; 13, 1932.

c. E. UNDERWOOD r-rlfkl.

GATE FOR COKE WHARVES Filed March 8, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l i I INVENTOR$ karleslf fihderwaad LY/LWZZJE ,lelrr m} ATTORNEY BY WA/Q.

s p c. E. LiNDERWOOD ET AL 1,376,799

GATE FOR COKE WHARVES Filed March 8, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTORS Patented Sept 13, 1932 i UNITED:sT3ATES ;.[Pars-NT. oF'FicE -i CHA ES E. unnnnwoon AN [CHARLES E. I;EHR-, 0F BETHLEHEM, lENItTSYLVANIA, ns-

'ro rrmixorrnns COMPANY or DELAWARE, A I

SIGNORSIBYMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, ooR'ron'ATIoN or, DELAWARE GATE r03; COKE WHARVES Application filed March s,

This inventionrelatestocokehaiidlinggap, paratusand particularly to automatic coke wharf, gates.

An object of ourinvention-is to provide automatic means for feeding quenched coke froma coke wharftoa belt conv'eyer. h L

Anotherobject of our invention is -to prov -IV :IV"of F g. 1. showing a gate in a closing vide automatic means for uniformly feeding coke from-a cokewharf to a beltconveyer in such a manner that the conveyer will notbe overloaded or choked by an oversupply;

A further objectof our invention is to re'- duce the manual labor required to operate the; gates and-to eliminate asfar as; possible the is hot, dirty and disagreeable; 1

Heretofo're ithas been-customary to operate thesegates by hand andinorder to regulate the discharge-of cokefrom the wharf to the conveyer the operators hadto stand in front of the gates and hold them open until that section of the wharf is cleared.

Usually the hot coke is pushed ovens-into a quenching'car, having an inclined bottom, and hinged doors adapted tobe swung outwardly-to enable the coke to-slide out of the car onto an'inclined wharf. The coke is partiallyquenched in the car by streams of water directedupon-thevltop surface of the mass, after which it is taken to the wharf and distributed thereon for further quenching of any part ofthe mass-which had not been suniciently cooledwhile in the quenching car. Furthercooling takes place on the wharf-by exposuretol the air and the evaporation of. moisture in the coke. This creates much hot vapor which at times envelopesthe attend-- ants, making it a hot'and'very disagreeable 10h; V s

It is therefore theprimaryobject of our invention to operate these gates by power, ma'king' their action automatic and to reduce to a minimum the necesslty for manual attention and at the same timeprovide for a uniform f dis ibution 'of the coke on the conveyors The novel features willbe more fully un derstood from the following description tak en with the drawings. V

Fig.1'is a plan'view of one section of gates and power means for operating same;

this wharf the coke is further quenched by" p water directed from a hose 1" connected with a from-the u y Y trolled by the operator stationed on a platform 2 extending ,alongthe lower end of the wharf. At the-lower end of the wharf lis adapted to close the lowerend of the-inclined 192s. Serial no.) 259,961;

II- ll ofFig. 1, showing avigate in closed position-about to open, l

opened position;

Fig.4is a sectional view. taken on the line position F'gs; 5, 6, 7 and 8 arediagram'matic views tively mounted indifferent angular positions v .on the cam shaft, corresponding to their re spective gates. s i

The inclined tional typeonto which the coke is dumped froma quenchingcar (car not shown).- On

anv suitablewater supply, which is conan endless conveyor 8. which is driven in a a manner well known to the art and is adapted to carry away the cooled coke for the usual subsequent handling;- Before'and during the quenching operation,- the coke is prevented V from falling onto the upper belt of the conveyer by meansof pivoted gates-4 which are wharfland-thus serve to regulate thepassage; of the coke from the wharf to the conveyor.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that the; gates are arranged in series along thelower end of the wharf and are pivoted at their lower ends in'brackets5 which; are se-' curedto the platform -2as-shown in-Figs. "2, 3 and ,4. -Each gate consists of a metallic A frame of structural shapes having twoside.

frames 6 of an inverted 'V-shape which are connected at their ,lower ends by struts 7 5' 95 'The 'top ends of the two side frames are tied together-by means of a headedrod andvnuta 8 passing through a' pipe separat0r9,-l0cated* between-the inside faces'oftheextending gussetpiceslO. This tie'also serves as'a handle- $0 Fig; 2 is a sectionalview taken on the; line '55 of the relative positions of the driving gearsif and cams, and the correspondingpositions of the-gates; and a a c 11 and 12 show the cams'relaw coke wharf is ofthe conven- At the lower ends of the frames 6, on the wharf side of the gates, are two cross members l1 securing the ends of the side frames which also serve as means for securing a series of spaced bars 12 adapted to form a.

barrier for the coke. To each side frame is attached a bracket 13 in which is mounted a roller 14 .adapted to coact with a cam 15.

The cams are shaped so "that when rotated they impart an irregular and retarded oscillatory motion to the gates by reason of their contact with the rollers attached to the gate frames 6. The cams are mounted on av cam shaft 16 extending lengthwise of the wharf. Flexible couplings 17 are provided to allow for irregularity of shaft alignment. The cam shaft is actuated by means of a pinion 18 driven by gear 19 which is mounted on a shaft 20 Suitable brackets 21 and with.

'- the 'end'of the driving'shaft 20.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the cam shaft 16 is not continuous throughout the length of the wharf and serves to operate but four gates which may be considered as one 15 complete unit. The cam shaft in this particularunit starts at the right hand bracket 24 and terminates-at bracket 25. The cam shaft forthe next unit starts at bracket 25 and ends at a similar bracket (not shown) farther to the left, and a gear and pinion similar to 19 and 18 is provided for this unit. In this manner 'as many units can be installed as may be'required to cover the entire length of the wharf. The drivingshaft 20 is common to all the units and is provided with flexible couplings 17 'at intervals throughout its length. a

One of the features of this invention is to provide for the opening of the gates in timed relation, in themanner hereinafter described, so that the feeding of the coke from the wharf to the conveyer will start at one end ofthe wharf and progress uniformly toward the other end.

Each gate is provided with a handle 9 in order that they may be operated by band, should the occasion demand. This in no way interferes with the power operating means or the automatic features. In order to clearly illustrate the angular relation'of the gear 19, the pinion 18 and the cam 15, with respect to one another, we have conventionally shown, in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, the portion of the shaft 16 which carries the pinion 18 inoffset relation to that portion of the shaft 16 which carries the cam 15. However, it is manifest that in the actual construction of our apparatus that the several shafts 16 are continuous and straight throughout their length and the cam and pinion mounted thereon are coaxial, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

Attention is directed to Fig. 5, which illustrates graphically'a gate in closedposition on the wharf, with the cam positioned against the roller on the gate frame. As" the cam is revolved by the shaft 16 in the direction of the arrow, the gate starts to open. Corresponding to the position of the cam is the relative position of tooth engagement of the gear 19 and pinion'18. Both the gea'r and the pinion have blank zones in which there are no teeth. The blank zone 27 on the pinion matches the radius of the pitch'diameter 28 of the gear. Both the gear and pinion have the same number of teeth, and are suflicient to produceone complete revolution of the pinion. i

Fig. 6. illustrates the gate in its half-open position with relative position of the cam and gears.

Fig. 7 shows the gate'fully open and relative positionof the cam and gears, and due to the fact that the center of gravity of the gate beyond its pivot point5, in the direction of bars 12, the natural tendency is for the gate to resist being opened, therefore, it will close'of its own weight after the highest point on the cam passes the roller 14.

Fig. 8 shows the'gate when closing and relative position of the cam and gears.

Continued action of'the gears revolve the cam until the roller 14 is brought into contact with the dead portion 29 of the cam,

wherein there is no motion imparted to the gate. Th s brings-the gate to its closed position while the gears and the cam continue their cycle which brings the cam back to its initial position as shown in Fig. 5. The cam 15 and pinion 18 have now made one revolution but as the last tooth on the gear 19 disengages the pinion, the pinion remains stationarywhile the gear 19 completes its cycle and again assumes its initial position as shown in Fig. 5. The period of time from when the gate starts to open until it is closed is sufficient to clear that section of the wharf.

As heretofore mentioned, the gates open in sequence, and for convenience the foregoing description of Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 may be considered to apply to gate A although all the gates are similar in construction and operation.

Fig. 9 shows the-position of: the cams 15,

for gate A, corresponding to the relative position of the gate and the gears shown-in Fig. 5, at the start of the'opening of the gate. The position of the cams'for gate B is shown in Fig. 10 which allows a delayed opening of Brelative to A.

Continuing with the second unit of 1 which 5 gate-Drelative to gate C. Dnetothe di-fferent angular positioning of the" cams, it will beovious thateach succeeding gate: will start to open at a delayed period relative to the precedinggatew i E is th'first gate," the cams are located-on the camshaft in the same positions as shown in Figs-9, 10, ll' 'and- 121. iviththe pinion 18 positioned as shown in -Fig. 5 the gear- ,departing from the spirit'thereof,

coke, -it may readily be adapted to handle other materials, suclras coal, stone, gravel,

or the like, by slightly modifying the barrier:-': features of the gates,

ous other changes rand modifications without and'we de-..- sire, therefore, that;= only: such:

in the appended claimsz Having thus described our invention :what

and while we have shown our invention in but 0ne'for1n,it Wille be obvious'lto .those skilled in-the artithat;

" it is not so limited, but is susceptible of :varilimitations 3751 shall be:-placedthereupon as .are imposed by the *prior art, or i as, are specifically set forthi 19 is set about 4:59in a backwarddirection relative to the arrow, from the position of the same gear for-the first unit. This-provides a lapse, during which time, the cam shaft for the second unit is inoperative until 'we-claimas new and desire to secure byv ters Patent isz, 1 I

1. "A- gate operating'mechan'ism for cokez wharves including ,in combination, :a plural-1. I

ity of gates to be-opened and closed-in timed .a:

'gateD of the first'unitis in its half-opened relation, a motor, oneormore cams foreach" osition; Thus the gates ofthe secondun'it gate, a camshaft, adriving=shaftroperatively will followthe movement of those of the first connected to said camshaft and saidmotor,

unit in consecutive order. Otherunits may andmeansadapted to beoperatedby saidfl be added by locating the driving gear 19 an:-' cams for opening and closing. the gates in 1 gula'rly' backward-on the driving shaft relatimedrelation p r tiverto theudriving-gears of the preceding 2. A gate operatingmechanismforv coke-3' units. wharves inclutl'ngincombination, aplurals With all the gates closed, the coke may ity of gates to be automatically openedand either be pushed directly from the ovens and closed in timed relation.-, amotor, and means:

38 quenched on the wharf,or it may be dumped oper atively connecting said motorand said onthe wharf from a car on which it had gatesincludingc'ams driven'by ashaft, the.

previouslybeen quenched. When sulficient- 1y cooledto be transferred to the conveyer, theattendant'startsthe motor 22 by means.

angularrelationship of'the cams to eachother determining the order of movement-10f the.

gates.

* "gearand between the reductiongear' and the s 33 A a ate operating: mechanisnrafor :coke;..-"

wh'a'rves :including in combination, "a plural-L. v; 1 ity' 'ofgates to be automatically opened =and: closedintimed relation; a motoryand means: 1: .,.operatively connecting :said motor- .and' said gates including a driving gear havingainter. 11 rupted teeth a lay'shaft,:a pinion having in terrupted teeth mounted on. said shaftiand driven by said gear, Cams. mountedwon "said: J 5 shaft',' the::angular relationship of the cams -of suitable control apparatus. Thev speed of the. motor is reduced by means of. a commer. cial reduction gear--21 driving a worm 'gear 23. Suitable flexible'couplings 17 areintroduced between the motor and the reduction"- worm drive. A shaft with a flexible coupling-connectsthe-worm drive with main drlve-shaft'20.'- Keyed to the drive shaft are the driving gears19 which actuate the cam 'sha-ft 16 through pinions v1 8. :As. thezcams 15 are revolved in the direction indicated by the arrows, they contact with rollers 14 which are" carried in brackets 13 attached to the. frames 6 of the gates... This causes 2].1OCk-5. -i'ng of the gates about their pivots 5 which lifts the bars 12 from thezwharf and allows the passage of the. coke from the wharf to. the conveyer which is'actuated by suitable; power means, not shown. The Lgate'A will be the. firstto open, followed bythe others" in succession. This provides for theiclean- I ingzofthe'wharf and theloading of the con-. veyer, starting at one endand progressing towards'the'otheiyeliminating the possibility of a rush or oversupply ofcoke to'the concombination with a wharf, of a plurality :of v.

veyer at any point as may happen in hand oscillatory gates', a shaft carryingaseriesof operated gates. The conveyer carries the ma cams mounted at relativelydiiferent anglesi" terial to the screens or handling plant. and operablyengaging said gates, means to Although the;apparatus as described is --rotate' said-shaft,-whereby all of said gates particularly adapted for the handlingof-maybe oscillated at different periodsto cause: 1 7

of said gear and plnion to determine the -or-' v der of: movement ofthe gates. J

4. A gateioperating mechanism for coke :1 wharveszincludin'g in combination, a plurality o f'ga-tes to be.automatica ly Operated in1'1 timed relation, a motor, and means opera tively connecting saidgate's andsaid motor :15 including a driving gear, and a pin-i n driven. by said gear, said gear and said pinionv having blank portions on their: faces to cause a lapseof movement of the pinion relative tour the gearto-determine the orderof movement of the gates. i

5. In a material handling apparatus, the i to eachother andtothe position of theateeth" 1101 I a continuous flowof material from the wharf.

6. In a material handling apparatus, in

combination, a wharf, a plurality of gates having .rollers attached thereto, ashaft, cams mounted at relatively different. angles on said shaft operably. engaging said rollers, and means to operate saidshaft, whereby said gates may be opened or closed in step'-like formation andat relatively different periods.

8. In a material handling apparatus, in combination, :an inclined wharf, a plurality'of: gates arranged along the lower edge of the wharf, a conveyor below said wharf, a motor operable independently of said conveyor, mechanism driven by the motor and permanently connected thereto for progressively opening andclosing said gates in steplike'formation, whereby the material on the wharf ma be continuously anduniformly discharged therefrom. to the conveyor in a progressive manner throughout the length of thewharf.

9. In .a material handling apparatus, in combination, an inclined wharf, a plurality of gates arranged along the, lower edge of the wharf, a motor, mechanism driven bythe motor for progressively opening and-closing said gates in step-like formation, said mechanism comprising a shaft, cams mounted on saidshaft at relatively differentangles and operably engaging said gates, whereby a" series of. adjacent gates may be in open positionlat the same time but to different degrees 0f opening. 10. Ina material handling apparatus, in

combination, .an inclined wharf, a plural-V ity of gates arranged in series along the lower edge 'of'the wharf, a motor, mechanism driven.

5 by the motor for progressively opening and closing said-gates in step-like formation, said mechanism comprising a power shaft, a lay shaft, multilated gearing intermediate said shafts, cams mounted at different angles gates, whereby a series of adjacent gates will be in the act of closing while another similar series of gates are being opened.

11. A material handling wharf having an inclined bed and a series of gates arranged along the lower edge thereof, and a manually controlled unitary power driven mechanism adapted to automatically open the gates sequentially to cause a progressive. discharge of the material from the wharf.

12. A gate-operating mechanism for inclinedzwharves comprising a plurality of gates, aconveyor and means for operating said gates in a predetermined sequence with a predetermined time interval therebetween on said lay shaft and operably engaging said.

independently of the speed of said conveyor, said means comprising a motor and mechanism driven thereby and operatively connected to each of said gates.

13. A- gate-operating mechanism for inclined wharves comprising a plurality of gates, a conveyor for receiving material from said wharves, and means for operating said gates in a predetermined sequence with a predetermined time interval therebetween members permanently connected to, said motor and actuating means, driven by said ro- .tatable membersfor opening said gates in said sequence.

14. A gate-operating mechanism. for in-,

clined wharvescomprising a plurality of gates, a conveyor for receiving material from said wharves, and means for operating said gates in a predetermined sequence with a vindependently of the speed 'of said conveyor, 7 said means comprising a motor,fr otatable predetermined time interval therebetween independently of said conveyor, said means comprising a manually-controlled motor,

means for operatively connecting said, motor tosaid gates for opening of said gates successively upon rotation of said motor. i 15. Gate-operating mechanism comprising a plurality of gates, a conveyor for receiving material passing through said. gates and means. for opening and closng said gates in 'a predetermined sequence and with a predetermined time intervaltherebetween independently of sa1 d conveyor, saidmeans comprisin a manually-controlled motor and ,means permanently. connected to said motor for actuating said gates and releasing them at different points; in the rotation of said motor.

16. A gate-operating mechanism for coke wharves including in combination, a plural-.

ity of gates to be opened in sequence, a motor, actuating means corresponding to each gate, the respective actuating means being mounted on rotatable members operatively connected to the motor and angularly spaced from eachother and means adapted to be successively operated by said actuating means for opening the gates sequentially.

17.'A gate-operating mechanism forcoke wharves including in combination, one or more series of gates to be automatically mg interrupted teeth and rotatable about a common axis, the angular relationof the in- 1 opened'and closed in timed relation, a motor, and means operatively connecting said motor and said gates mcluding driving gears havsaid motor and intermittently connected to the respective gates successively upon rota-v tion of said motor.

19. A gate-operating mechanism for inclined wharves comprising a plurality of gates and means for operating said gates in a predetermined sequence, said means comprising a motor and mechanism driven by said motor and intermittently connected to the respective gates successively when the latter are in closed positions whereby certain of the gates may be manually opened during the operation of said mechanism.

20. In a material-handling apparatus, the combination with a wharf, of a plurality of gates, a conveyor beyond said gates adapted to receive the material discharged from said wharf, and means comprising a manually controlled motor operatively connected to said gates for automatically and successively opening and closing said gates in a predetermined timed relation.

21. In a material-handling apparatus, the combination of an inclined wharf, a conveyor positioned below said wharf to receive the material discharged therefrom, avseries of gates arranged alon the lower edge of the wharf to be automatically opened and closed in timed relation to each other, a motor operable independently of said conveyor, and mechanism driven by the motor for initiating the operation of the gates singly and in sequence.

22. In a material-handling apparatus, the combination of an inclined wharf, a conveyor positioned below said wharf to receive the material discharged therefrom, a series of normally closed gates arranged along the; lower edge of the wharf to be automatically opened and closed in timed relation to each other, a motor operable independently of said conveyor, and mechanism driven by the motor for initiating the opening of the gates singly and successively.

23. In a material-handling apparatus, the combination of an inclined wharf, a plurality of gates arranged along the lower edge of the wharf, actuating mechanism for auto matically opening and closing said gates to cause a progressive and continuous discharge of the material on the wharf throughout its length, manually-controlled motive means for operating said mechanism, and a movable conveyor for receiving the material as discharged from the wharf.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures.

CHARLES E. UNDERWOOD. CHARLES E. LEHR. 

